Duke Nukem is Now Almost Old Enough to Drink

It was this day 20 years ago that the world was introduced to Duke Nukem. Although the series is best known for its first-person shooter offerings, it began as a Commander Keen-like side-scrolling action game.

Duke has starred in more than a dozen games since his debut, including titles on PC, N64, Game Boy, PlayStation, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and more. He's best known for either the perpetually-delayed Duke Nukem Forever or his FPS debut, Duke Nukem 3D, which was released in 1996. (The XBLA version is pictured at the bottom of this post.) The game is what really made Duke Nukem a well-known name; it stood out with its interactive and destructible environments, ill-mannered and crude protagonist (voiced by Jon St. John), and no shortage of strippers.

Many of the older titles were developed by 3D Realms, although the franchise's rights are now in the hands of Gearbox. The Borderlands and Brothers in Arms developer did what many thought was impossible in shipping the aforementioned Forever, which was in development for almost 15 years. It wasn't met with the kindest of receptions from critics, sparking somewhat of a controversy. Besides many feeling it's not a good game, its crudeness has been called into question. Publisher Take-Two has stood behind it and has indicated we might even see Duke in other forms of media.

Landmark character as he once was, Duke Nukem's attitude in this day and age is probably best summed up by the latest 1UP Whiteboard, which you can watch here.

3D Realms' website is home to shareware (doesn't that term just make you feel old, PC gamers?) versions of seven different Duke Nukem games so that you can try them out for yourself. Some are even available for sale -- all 760Kb of the original Duke Nukem, pictured above, can be yours for $5.99. By 3D Realms' calculations, even if you're stuck in the mid-90s with a 28.8 modem, it'll take less than four minutes to download.

[Anniversary mage courtesy of Gearbox.]

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